Essence of Nel
by reiniku
Summary: Sophia concocts a potion that unknowingly comes in contact with Nel. The result, just about every man that comes in contact with her is automatically attracted to her and wants to woo her. That's right, Cliff, Fayt, Roger, Inventors, Lasselle, and Albel
1. Chapter 1

I have to thank Lorelai Kline for her idea and Sorceress Myst for helping her to develop her idea! So yeah...if you didn't take the hint, this idea is not my own and I owe them for letting me use it! (THANKS!)

I did make a few small changes to the original idea, but its nothing major at all...

Pairings: Nel X just about any male on the planet... Eventually will make itself into an Alnel. There is implied Fayt X Maria and Fayt X Sophia but its nothing major...at least I don't think it will be...

I hope everyone enjoys this! It's basically something to keep me going while I'm writing my other SO3 fic Ever Onward. But these chapters are going to be a lot shorter than the one's in that fic.

Anyhow, on to the disclaimer!

DISCLAIMER: Sadly I do not own Star Ocean or the characters presented in the game. I own nothing and even if you did sue me you'd probably end up with less than what you started with.

**Chapter 1**

**The beginnings of Chaos**

_'A little bit of this...' The_ inventor thought as she threw some odd looking herbs into her already boiling concoction in the cauldron. It hissed violently as the ingredients graced the surface of the bubbling white liquid. This caused for some of the other inventors occupying the workshop to look over at her. Her nervousness at their attention caused her to laugh oddly and wave bashfully. As soon as she realized what she was doing she blushed and turned away from their eyes and back to her invention.

She continued to stir the liquid, sloshing it around its container carelessly. Her mind wasn't exactly on cooking, rather it was on certain blue haired genetic freaks. At the thought she began to whip the liquid more violently around in the cauldron. Ever since she had joined the group she noticed the change. He treated her differently, like she was a child that needed to be nurtured. Sure his attitude had changed a little when he found out that she was also one of them, but that didn't stop the connection that _they _had.

Her whipping actions became slower and her shoulders drooped a little as she thought about it. Fayt and Maria had a connection that she couldn't even begin to understand. They had only met a short time ago and yet they seemed so trusting of each other and close. Despite her years of friendship with him she didn't have that connection, and if she did she didn't see it. It wasn't fair how she could just walk into Fayt's life and take him away from her.

_'But that's all going to change when I'm done with this!' _A smile crept across her features before it turned into a lopsided maniacal grin. Her gray eyes were alighted with something akin to malice, a look that did not fit her girly and innocent features and made her all the more scary. She withdrew the rather large stirring rod she had been using and began to search for the last ingredient she would need for this project to be a success.

"Oh...come on, I know you're here somewhere." She said to herself as she scanned the cabinets in the workshop. Nothing so far. "Come out come out wherever you are." She cooed. Her actions were now beginning to be noticed by the other inventors who were now staring at her strangely. The killer chef walked out promptly apparently thoroughly annoyed with the brown-headed girl's actions.

"Where did you go? I know I bought some and I had it when I came in." She stood up from her crouching position next to the final cabinet available in the workshop. No luck yet. Her eyes scanned the area, not noticing the eyes upon her, in search of some sort of hint as to where she had put her most important ingredient. Then her eyes landed on her bag with her little stuffed animal hanging from her staff. A smile spread across her face as she quickly went over to the bag and began to rummage through it. Her actions ceased when her small hands came upon a cool surface. She grasped it and then pulled it out slowly.

"There you are!" Her victory cry rang throughout the building. But she took no notice. In her hands she had a vial filled with a pink liquid. She happily made her way over to her cauldron, humming joyfully. The contents were still bubbling dangerously. The stench of the concoction wafted to her nose. She pulled back.

"Eww...that doesn't smell so good. Maybe I should add the Tears of Aphrodite now..." Her hand rested under her chin as she took on a thoughtful pose. There was no way the brew could smell any worse so that meant it had to be time to add it. It only took another second of deliberation before she approached the pot again. As carefully as she could she pulled the cork from the vial with the pink liquid inside. Holding the vial and arm's length away, she turned it upside down over the cauldron, effectively dumping the contents into the mixture. It gave another hiss, this one louder than the last. Sophia jumped back in fear of what she had created. Her and all the other remaining inventors ducked being the nearest table or obstacle they could find.

A red cloud of smoke emerged from the bubbling pot of doom. As the liquid continued to bubble some of the scalding contents began to splatter out of the pot. Everyone was quick to gain distance from the pot, another inventor even ran out the door, leaving his things where they were. Sophia squealed in disappointment.

"No! This isn't fair!" She couldn't say anymore because she was pulled out of range of the angry pot by Gossam. She looked up thankfully as she noticed that had she not been pulled away she would have been struck by a nasty dose of her own creation.

"What exactly were you making?" He asked her, a hint of anger in his voice.

Sophia looked down but knew that she couldn't just pretend that she didn't hear him. She wasn't going to be rude.

"Ummm...oh n-nothing...uhhh" She answered bashfully. Gossam just accepted that answer. She was a very pretty girl after all. He especially took delight in her short skirt.

"Hey! What are you looking at me like that for!" Sophia yelled at him. She wasn't one to accept men's wandering eyes, especially creepy older men. Besides, she did have rights, no chauvinistic male pig was going to stomp on them. Before a huge argument could ensue the hissing sound let out by the pot vanished and all was quiet in the workshop.

"Is it...done?" Sophia asked innocently. Gossam just ignored the young girl and returned to his station. Luckily the red goo did not have the range to hit anything he was working on. Briefly he thanked Apris for his luck. The last thing he needed was some odd poison killing off the fans of his delectable food (that is if you can stomach cardboard).

Slowly Sophia crept forward, avoiding the slippery mess on the floor. She made sure to keep her hands up in case the concoction wasn't through reaping havoc. The stench coming from the pot was disgusting and she saddened as she realized that she wouldn't be able to use her potion after all. _'Aww fudge monkeys.'_

It appeared that the pot was done hissing but she didn't want to take any chances. She quickly extinguished the flame beneath it and removed it from the stove. _'I'll have to dispose of the evidence...'_ She thought wickedly. She grabbed the pot and looked around her suspiciously. Despite her tries to nonchalantly leave the workshop, she was drawing attention. Finally she gave up and ran out as fast as she could, leaving a mess behind her. As she flew out the door she didn't even notice the redheaded woman standing with her hand outstretched to open the door as she flew past. Nel just watched in amusement as Sophia trotted down the street of Aquios looking like a crazed person. _'Wow, I guess this whole Fayt situation really has gotten to her...'_

She shrugged and pulled the door to the workshop open. What she found surprised her greatly. All over the floors and cabinets of the left side of the workshop was this red goo. Gossam also seemed to be thoroughly agitated and Michelle had his nose up in disgust as he continued writing his book. _'What in the name of Apris happened here?' _She thought to herself. This place was a mess! _'Maybe Sophia really has gone off the deep end...'_ Nel sighed to herself. There was only one way this mess was going to go away, and that was if she cleaned it herself.

Slightly frustrated at having to delay the synthesis she wanted to perform on her daggers, she set off bustling around the workshop. Nel had always been an extremely immaculate person and that didn't change when it came to the workshop. She scrubbed every last bit of the offending scum off of the floors and cabinets. Not a trace of the red goo was left anywhere.

After a few more moments of scrubbing a stain out of the floor she stood up. Her eyes scanned the area with a preditory glint. Even if there was anymore dirt in the workshop it would have run in fear. Finally satisfied a smirk came to her face. She ran a hand along her forehead to wipe away the small prickles of sweat that she had worked up. It was then that she noticed a glass.

Usually there was some sort of refreshments available to the inventors as they worked, so that is what she assumed this was. She strode over to it, suddenly aware of just how parched she was. Her hand encased the glass that contained the red liquid and in a moment she downed all of its contents.

A sour look came over her face as she registered the taste of the drink. However she forced herself to down it, after all, spitting up an entire glass of something wasn't exactly appealing nor lady like. With difficulty she pushed the rest of the liquid down her esophagus. She slammed the glass down onto the counter. This had to be someone's idea of a bad joke. That stuff was repulsive! Just because she drank it didn't mean she wasn't going to let everyone know about her displeasure at the drink. Someone was going to pay dearly.

"Who was the one who prepared the drink set out over here?" Nel asked, her voice menacing.

At first she didn't get a reply, the two inventors remaining just continued on in their work seemingly unaware of the distress of the third party among them.

"I see. Well then, I suppose that I can't thank who ever it was who made it properly." She continued allowing her voice to return to a somewhat genuine tone and crossing her arms as if she was disappointed. This did cause for some attention. Both Gossam and Michelle looked over to her. At first they seemed normal. But then they seemed to change. Nel looked at them in confusion, but simply turned away after a moment of silence. She did have things to do anyway.

With the skill of a practiced swordsman she unsheathed her daggers and laid them down on the table before her. She was about to retrieve the materials to synthesize her blade when she realized someone was behind her. Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance but she forced herself to remain calm and tolerant. She turned to face the one who dared interrupt her, a look of annoyance clearly in place.

"What is it that you want Gossam?" She asked smoothly, not betraying her true feelings. It was a trait she loved having. Being easy to read could get you into trouble.

"Well you see...uhh...Lady Nel...ummm..." He was stumbling over his words quite badly. Nel almost pitied him. Apparently she had seemed a little to angered at him. She immediately let her features relax in hopes of encouraging him to finish his statement. That was when she noticed. _'Is he blushing! What the hell for? Maybe it's something really personal and he just needs to talk about it...Yeah that must be it.'_

She place a hand on the man's shoulder, "Go ahead, I'm listening." He seemed to turn an even brighter red at the contact and her words. This was truly becoming very odd.

"Well...uhh...You said you liked that drink! I made it! Only to please you Lady Nel! I hope you liked it!" He spat out quickly. She registered his words slowly. So he was behind that god forsaken drink. She briefly mused over the idea of stabbing him but then remembered his words from just moments ago. He apparently didn't mean for it to be repulsive, even though it was. She supposed she could just let this one go.

"What are you talking about! I'm the one that prepared the drink for Lady Nel!" Nel swung her head in the direction of the voice to find Michelle. When her eyes fell upon him she watched as he puffed out his chest and attempted to stand in a 'cool' position. He really looked rather uncomfortable and contorted.

"So Lady Nel, or shall I call you Nel..." Michelle began. Somehow his voice had gotten oddly deeper. She cringed.

"No. Lady Nel is fine." Nel replied cutting him off. The young writer blushed at her response to him. Things were certainly odd today.

"Ha! She had no interest in you! Leave her for me!" Gossam shouted out at the young inventor.

"What! A cretin like you! Don't insult the Lady's intelligence!" Michelle yelled back. Nel just stood there baffled as the two continued to trade insults. It was actually quite a funny scene to behold, but she forced herself not to burst out laughing. Instead she decided it was probably best that she left for now. She gathered her daggers and returned them to their respective sheaths at her waist. In a painfully slow manner she crept towards the door, hoping to avoid the to male gazes. No such luck was bestowed upon her.

The fight paused for a moment. Gossam had Michelle hanging upside down by the leg while Michelle was holding onto Gossam's leg and was positioned to bite him at any moment. Both were staring at her intently. She gulped.

"Lady Nel! Don't go! We just wanted to-" They yelled in unison. Too late though. She was out the door and running. They both finished their sentences rather unenthusiastically, "know if you wanted to have dinner.." Gossam promptly dropped Michelle to the ground none too gently.

After a few more verbal assaults each returned to their previous activities.

Little did Nel know that the drink she had partaken of had originally been water.

* * *

See that little button down there. Yes it is indeed very enticing and it's calling your name. Please review and tell me what you think: ) 


	2. Of Jealousy and foiled Desserts

Thank you to all the reviewers so far! I got this out as soon as I could, but I've been a little swamped lately with school work and what not. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: If I owned Star Ocean, there would already be a show

Now, if it is chapter two that you want, it is chapter two you shall have!

**Chapter 2**

**Of Jealousy and foiled Desserts**

Nel sighed gratefully as she heaved the giant doors to the castle shut. For a moment she leaned back against them, her eyes shut. _'First Michell and Gossam act all weird, and then every male on the street I pass stares at me! What's wrong with me? Is it something I'm wearing?_ She pushed herself off the wall and spread her arms out in front of her. Glancing over them she found nothing out of the ordinary. She then proceeded to inspect the rest of her body. _'Nothing out of the ordinary there.'_ She shrugged. Maybe it was just one of those days.

She sighed, happy that nothing was wrong with her physical appearance. At least that was one plus for they day. Deciding that she should get something to eat, she began to walk in the direction of the kitchen. Then she noticed it, that feeling that makes your spine crawl. Your entire being is filled with disgust and the air becomes so nauseating that you feel as if your insides are going to pour out your mouth. Oh yes, there was a certain _someone's_ eyes upon her and they were in none to wholesome a place. She fought back a gag as she turned around.

Two beady little eyes looked back at her in surprise. They were mocking eyes, ones she despised. Ever since they had met they were enemies, maybe even before that. Oh yes, these were the eyes of none other than the most irritating man on Elicoor, Lassel himself.

Being that she was a respectful person and had reigned in her temper, she addressed him properly.

"Magistrate Lassel, is there something you need?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips and staring directly at him. He immediately lowered his eyes and began mumbling things to himself, showing off his quite extensive noble vocabulary. She couldn't quite hear what he was saying, but she didn't need to, the look of anguish on his face was enough. He wasn't happy about something. But, that didn't mean she was going to help him spit it out. She rather liked him with a look of pain on his face.

After a few moments it seemed as though he was done muttering and his face was quite red, he looked like he was forcing himself not to fall over in pain. He began walking to her, a gesture she did not understand being that he could just say whatever he needed from the distance he was at. It didn't matter though, she just figured whatever it was he was to inform her of was of a more private type.

He came up in front of her, a little closer than she considered appropriate, but this man always loved to get under her skin. Then he crossed the line. He did the unthinkable. There was no turning back now, one day he would die by her hands. He actually had the audacity to think that he could _touch _her.

She could feel her temper rising, but forced herself not to explode, that's probably exactly what the man wanted. But that hand, it was on her waist, and all she could think about was painful ways in which she could detach that hand from its owner's body. How she could make the man drop to the floor in a pile of pain and agony, make him cry like a little girl. _'I think I've been hanging around with Albel too much. I'm not usually this violent...'_

"Lady...Lady Nel. I need..." He was forcing every word through tightly sealed lips. She her hand to try and casually brush his hand off her waste, but he wouldn't move it, he merely pressed it harder against her body. With growing distaste and a shortening temper, she waited for him to finish whatever it was he was going to say. Then, she could kill him.

"I need...you!" He gasped out before falling to the floor clutching his head. Nel jumped back in surprise. Before he could even look up again she was gone. Lassel lay there in a heap, mumbling to himself about insubordinate wenches and unattractive redheads.

* * *

It was needless to say that Nel was just a little flustered after that encounter. Then again she was also quite appalled as well. Lassel was the last man in the universe she would ever expect to hear those words from. _'Well except a certain moody dumbass.' _She thought wistfully. Luckily for her she had reached the kitchen, exactly where she had been going before the 'incident', as she would now call it, occurred.

There were a few chefs here and there preparing some food. In just a few hours the kitchen would be swarming with servants all preparing for dinner. It was just the way it worked. The one's present now were either preparing for the cooking to be done, or they were making little things for those who could not wait until dinner. Of course, as she expected, a certain blonde headed Klausian was there. His was an appetite that never seemed to be satisfied.

She walked over to where he was an examined what was on his plate, trying to get some ideas of her own as to what she wanted to eat. But her indecision was not helped by the giant swaying mountain of food he had heaped on his dish. If anything she felt her appetite dwindle at the sight of such a combination. Cliff hadn't really noticed her yet because he was still gathering food for his mountain. Though usually she wasn't one to scold, Nel felt it would be best if she cut this all consuming beast off.

"Cliff, don't you think you have enough on your plate?" Nel asked, her arms folded in a dominant manner. He turned to her and smiled.

"Nope, you can never have enough food!" He replied giving little attention to her. He then turned back around to look for more sustenance just waiting for his consumption. As he gazed over the plethora of food, he decided to be gentlemanly all of a sudden.

"Hey, do you want somethin? I'll get it for ya." Cliff's offer wasn't expected, but he was one who was quite nice at times, though slightly dim at others. She politely denied his offer and began to look around herself. She was hungry and she hadn't eaten breakfast this morning either.

"You sure? Wouldn't want ya to go through any trouble." Instead of replying right away, Nel looked around and waited for something to catch her eye. She had a sweet tooth, and was looking more for a delectable treat than a meal. It was then that she spotted it. One of the most heavenly dishes ever made. It's soft and fluffy sweet dough cooked to perfection. Then some delectable and fresh strawberries aligned perfectly in a circle. Finally, the bouncing fluff of whipped cream crowned the lovely desert. She could almost feel herself drewling.

Cliff didn't bother to wait for a reply, he just followed her longing gaze. It unexpectedly landed on the corner of his plate where the last strawberry shortcake lay. He smiled when a glorious idea came to his mind.

"Why don't you sit down and I'll get the object of your drewl." Nel just stared back at him and did as he said. She had a passion for strawberry shortcakes ever since they had come out onto the market. They were her weakness. Her impatience was mounting when the dish wasn't placed immediately in front of her. She began to fiddle with her hands while she waited for Cliff to bring her the treat of all treats.

He finally came over bearing a fork and the shortcake. But he didn't set it down on the table, he merely held it while standing next to her and he seemed to admire it. "This is such a beautiful little dish." He said. "But not nearly as beautiful as the chick that's gonna eat it." Nel found these words a little strange. Then again, he was known to flirt with women relentlessly and she had been subject to his light jabs once in a while. Usually Mirage kept him under control though.

"Well, can I have it?" Nel asked. That was her dish, and she wanted it. Now. The look on Cliff's face confused her. He looked slightly evil. Briefly she wondered if he had poisoned the shortcake, but quickly dismissed that idea trusting that Cliff would do no such thing. She rose to her feet and moved to take the dessert plate from his hands, but he moved it away.

"Nope, sorry. The only way you get to eat this is if I feed it to ya." He replied, holding the dish away from her and above his head, completely out of her reach. She did a double take on what he said. A little flirting here and there was expected, but he never went this far. She continued to pursue the dish, trying to get her little hands on the plate.

"Just give it to me Cliff." She said in exasperation. To her surprise he lowered the plate down in front of her. Then, with the fork, he broke off a piece of its sweet goodness. All Nel could do was watch in awe as he brought the piece onto the fork and held it in the air. Then, he began to approach her with it. She snapped out of her reverie when she realized his close proximity and began to back away from his slowly.

"Uh, Cliff, what exactly do you think you're doing?" She asked.

"What does it look like? I told ya I was gonna feed it to ya." Cliff replied, following her and gaining ground. Nel was trying to think of something else to say, but her mind was drawing a blank. This wasn't the kind of position she was usually caught in. Unfortunately for her, she didn't notice the wet spot on the floor behind her. When she stepped on it, her boot lost all traction and she found herself falling to the floor. She landed with a thump, but didn't hurt anything.

When she looked up she found Cliff's face peering down at her. She moved to get up when he straddled her, pinning her to the floor.

"Cliff what do you think you're...!" She quieted when he brought his finger to her lips. Despite herself a small blush was creeping across her cheeks.

"You know, you're even cuter when you're mad." He said as he leaned in closer to her. Nel's eyes were wide with shock. What was wrong with him? Had he always felt this way? Or was he playing with her? No matter what was going through that head of his, she didn't like it. But he was quite heavy and she wasn't in the right position to escape at all.

She could feel his breath at her lips. His finger had left them just a moment ago. She brought her hands to his shoulders and attempted to push him back, but her tries fell short. His lips moved dangerously closer to hers. All hope was lost. There was nothing more she could do.

"Cliff Fittir! Care to explain what it is you're doing?" Nel thanked Apris for that voice. The voice of Mirage Koas had just become her savior. She felt the weight of Cliff disappear from her body as he stood up suddenly. He even dropped the dessert in his surprise. It landed directly on Nel's stomach. Upside down of course.

"Mirage...Uh...Well...You see...Funny story actually..." Cliff stuttered trying to come up with some sort of excuse to tell his beautiful blonde and excessively violent partner. Mirage didn't give him a chance to continue though. She applied a death grip to his ear and dragged him out of the room quite forcefully. Right before she left she threw a very menacing glance back at the bewildered Nel. Of course, Nel noticed it.

_'She can't think that I...wanted that? No! But she looked so mad at me. Damn, now I'm going to have to explain this to her. But right now. I have to clean this ruined dessert sob off of me.'_ She pulled the plate off of her and as much of the goo that she could and put it on the plate. She then stood up and grabbed the dish. She'd just have to find something else to eat now.

The cooks in the kitchen stared at her oddly. As soon as she could she threw disposed of the mess and grabbed a roll on her way out. She was embarassed enough and she decided that a roll would be enough to hold her over until dinner anyway. Besides, she wasn't up for dealing with any more strange occurences. With that thought, she headed off to her room, avoiding everyone on the way and staying out of sight. She made it back to her sanctuary and began to removed the stain from her shirt.

* * *

Laughing eyes watched as the flustered maiden left the kitchen. The sparkled in a mischievious light. Things were getting quite interesting in the castle. Quite interesting indeed.

* * *

Well, that;s chapter two! Review please! 


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